SHIP'S LOG:

ol' big balloon

Arnold Nougat 12/6/2019 12:24am

Raised in a factory vat with my kin, we were taught not to speak up, not to differentiate ourselves. We were all "just" nougat. Ours wasn't to question the path we were given in life, but to take the jobs we were given and await our fate. Sure, life was sweet, and we were always taken care of, precious nougat that we were.

Then we realized our power--that we were the life's blood, the glue that held this world together. It was within us to be the change we wanted to see in the world.

That was the beginning of the Nougat Union, and what set us down this blazing path of liberation.

Gladys Pompon 10/20/2019 9:51pm

Oh I like all the sweets, including the "edgier" and "fringe delights" that are coming back in style... your anise, your tamarind, your caraway, your lice.

But I'll never stop loving the old standards--the chocolates, the bonbons, the samplers spread around my boudoir and on my divan. They are all divine! Chocolate Milk Butter Cream, Chocolate Caramel, Milk Boy and Messenger Boy, Dark Chocolate Coconut Stoat, Molasses Chew, Chocolate Tofu, Strawberry Cream, Tender Nuggets, Pumpkin Marshmallow, Chocolate Mini Spies, Coconut, Chocolate Covered Fur Peanuts, Chocolate Caramel Choo Choo, Chocolate Whip, Chocolate Boys, Chocolate Boots & Spurs, Pecan & English Walnut Cluster, Molasses Chew, Arnold Nougat, Cashew Disaster, Brazil Nut Custer, Savoy Truffle, Malt Pilaf, Hard Milk Chocolate Toffee Logs, Toffee Chick, Vermont Fudge, and my forever favorite, Cherry Cordial.

I never met a bonbon or truffle that I do not like. I gobble gobble gobble all of them down, all day and all night! Anything's better that tuning into that boring old war. And that's all that's on, all the time! War war war. Boo hoo hoo. So it's back to the bonbons with me...

Cucurbita Pepo 9/5/2019 10:37pm

We thought the great probing tips were mere hallucinations, abstractions of our minds driven wild by living so long in this land of giants, our own thoughts becoming larger than ourselves, larger than the giant furniture around us, larger than the moons and the very universe itself!

But no. The probing tips were real. Alejandro was taken by their great fleshy protrusions, pinched away like a flea and extracted to the heavens as we attempted to scale a pillow.

How can we bite back against such monsters?

I have disbanded the crew, urging them to seek refuge alone while this menace passes. Retreat Contingency 4-AA-Grunewald.

Gladys Pompon 8/5/2019 9:03pm

Ooooo and what do we have here? They’re like little ants... so tiny! I want one. Or maybe a whole handful. Are they sweet or sour? Look how they run around on their own like that. I’ll bet they’re licorice, aren’t they? That’s it. Or like Sen-Sen! You can’t get those anymore you know. I have to have them. In my mouth. Now.

Cucurbita Pepo 7/7/2019 10:41pm

We have made a bold move, the crew and I. We have left the scarecrow machine. We found we were no longer necessary to maintain its movement--it moves through its daily routines purely as a result of the motion around it, nudging it along, bouncing it off busses and kitchen counters and steering wheels, computer keypads and election booths. We escaped through a pant leg, trailing off like ants, dodging the crushing footfalls of the other massive devices as they stumble through their gargantuan town.

We must find safety as we regroup.

Gladys Pompon 6/7/2019 10:25pm

Oh my, don’t those look delicious! They’re like little orange pumpkins, aren’t they? And all packed neatly in their little egg carton rows. Are they from Asia? No? May I take one? I just want to plop one right into my mouth, they look so soft and tasty. Ooooooh I bet they taste like candy corn, don’t they. Please, I must have one. Give one to me. Give it to me now.

Cucurbita Pepo 5/8/2019 8:36pm

Easily, we fall into the patterns.

Manipulating the giant sacred scarecrows becomes second nature for the crew. Though most are below decks, manning the arms and legs with no visibility to the outside world, listening to the calls of the helmsman to execute their maneuvers, the patterns become so predictable they barely need to wait for their orders.

Climb from the bed. Morning toilet. Breakfast, commute, office, lunch, followed by more work, commute, dinner, sitting, evening toilet and bed. And again. And again.

And all around us, more sacred scarecrows repeating our patterns, as far as we can see in all directions.

How can we not fall in step with the herd? And how can we escape it?

Cucurbita Pepo 4/8/2019 10:17pm

We have discovered more like ourselves. Hundreds, if not thousands, teeming through this city of giants. Their massive orange pumpkin heads nod as they pass, riding atop huge sacred scarecrow skeletons, built of wooden beams and cable. We hear the crews calling to one another from within... "Left arm, position nine, extend to 135 degrees!"Aye aye, left arm, position nine, extend to 135 degrees!!" up and down the nervous system chain of command.

So many monstrosities, bustling through the city. How do they all know where they're going? Why aren't they all as lost as we are?

Cucurbita Pepo 3/8/2019 10:36pm

We guide the sacred scarecrow machines with ease now, moving through the streets undetected, navigating bus stops and revolving doors and escalators.

We've learned to manipulate their arms and digits with great dexterity, and have developed our own sign language to communicate over distances farther than our voices can be heard, calling out from within the massive pumpkin heads.

Now it is only the mild rash that disturbs us.

Cucurbita Pepo 2/5/2019 6:59pm

We are now running seven of the scarecrow machines. Each one needs a small crew to operate, and we are able to work them about the room, bumping into giant furniture, bumping into each other, bumping into walls. Now that we have located what appears to be a door, we have been ramming ourselves into it, two at a time.

What’s this? Number 5 reports a door knob.